1115. Kale Panzanella Salad

This salad skyrocketed to the top of our favorite salads list from the first bite. I have been having a kale moment for a while now, and while I do enjoy it cooked in stews, I also thoroughly enjoy it raw and finely shredded in a salad. It's just so hearty and substantial. Paired with toasted garlic croutons made from my go-to artisan bread (no-knead, overnight), the lemony dressing made this an almost daily treat for the last couple of months.

1114. Yemeni Marag

I realized the term marag has different connotations between the Iraqi and the Arabian Gulf. You see, a marag to the Iraqi is a hearty stew. The consistency of the liquid is just bearely thinner than a soup, and usually has a vegetable and some meat or chicken. To other Arabs of the Gulf, a marag is a broth, which is essentially meat-flavored water used as a base for stews or soups. Now for the Yemeni, marag is a dish in its own right.

Time and Again, Part 5

The fifth installment of the Time & Again series holds a veritable mishmash of favorite dishes, spanning the realms of Iraq (of course), India, Turkey, Sweden, Qatar, Palestine, Portugal, South America, France, and beyond.

1112. Arelettes

Arelettes are a genius French cookie, very, very similar to the palmier cookie, yet very, very different in method and structure. Similarities are that only puff pastry and sugar are used. Differences are in the out-of-this world caramelization and crisp of the cookie.

1111. Sundae Bar

Setting up a sundae bar for dessert is a very fun and easy way to end a meal, requires no cooking, and is interactive where everyone builds their own sundae. All you need is a good tub of ice cream and arrange all the various fixings and toppings.

1110. Qatari Chicken Machboos

We've seen how fragrant and delicious Qatari desserts can be (remember sago and ageeli?), now it's time to try their equally fragrant, perfumy, and delicious chicken. The medley of spices almost seems random, until you give it a taste and see for yourself the magnificent outcome. Onion and garlic do form the base, but the heaps of dry lemon, saffron, ginger, turmeric, and others make the chicken sing.

1109. Mini Fustuqia

For such a simple dessert, the result was fantastic both in presentation and flavor. I would almost consider it a cheat's fustuqia, because compared to my (also amazing) pistachio mafrooka of  five years ago (!), the pistachio crust consists of three ingredients versus the classic eight. The "secret ingredient"? Powdered tea biscuits.

1108. Aubergine Kishk Dip

Baba ghanouche comes of as a very tame relative to this pungent and ferocious aubergine dip. Slowly caramelized onions merge with fragrant seeped saffron, which melds with sauteed garlic and plenty of dried mint, all to combine with silky roasted aubergine flesh. But that's not all.

1107. Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake

I think this cake should be renamed to Brown Sugar Cake, but that is no where near as attractive as chocolate cake. I got two reasonably-sized loaves of cake from this recipe, all of which contains a grand total of only 100 grams of dark chocolate. Therefore, what really gives it that special texture and taste is the ratio of brown sugar and butter.

1106. Frozen Yogurt Bark with Berries

While the overly-healthy concept is enough to throw most people off, this dessert must be given a fair chance. I for one, had to google how to eat yogurt bark. Making it was less of a problem than eating it. Sure enough, the gone-in-three-bites serving size is recommended to avoid messy fingers and face.